Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

Getting to Green: Minnesota’s energy future

Getting to Green is an MPR News series that shares stories about Minnesota’s clean energy transition, including what needs to be done to get there.

Submit a question or story for Getting to Green here.

Climate Cast

Listen to Climate Cast, the MPR News podcast all about our changing climate and its impact in Minnesota and worldwide.

How are cities preparing to combat climate change?
Heavier rains are driving historically high water levels and more frequent flooding in cities across the United States. How are cities bracing themselves for more climate-driven inundation? MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner filled in for host Kerri Miller.
How much hotter are the oceans? The answer begins with a bucket
Scientists need to track the history of sea temperatures precisely to model climate change. A newly discovered clue in measurements taken by sailors in the 1930s could have far-reaching implications.
Study finds invasive insects are a big contributor to climate change
Invasive insects like the gypsy moth and emerald ash borer — which are steadily marching across Minnesota and the rest of the country, feasting on trees and ultimately killing them — are also contributing to climate change, according to a newly released study.
Funeral for lost ice: Iceland bids farewell to glacier
With poetry, moments of silence and political speeches about the urgent need to fight climate change, Icelandic officials, activists and others bade farewell to what once was a glacier.
DNR searching for seed pickers to help maintain Minnesota's forests
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is trying to recruit more individuals or groups to collect seeds the state nursery needs to grow millions of trees each year.
Alaska records its warmest month ever; future records likely
Alaska has been America's canary in the coal mine for climate warming, and the yellow bird is swooning. July was Alaska's warmest month ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
DNR staff: Agency leaders disregarding wildlife concerns in timber harvest plan
Wildlife managers from across Minnesota say DNR leadership is mismanaging the upcoming timber harvest in a way that risks altering state forest lands for the animals that depend on them.
Wet, wild and high: Lakes and rivers wreak havoc across Midwest, South
Parts of the Mississippi have been above flood stage for months. All of the Great Lakes are at or near record-high levels. It's halting barge traffic, damaging infrastructure and eroding shorelines.